Fifty years ago, they were told it would never work.
“No one will go to Anegada.”
“There is nothing in Anegada for a tourist.”
Those words might have been enough to stop most people.
But on September 26, 1976, Lowell and Vivian Wheatley set sail from The Pub in Road Town for Anegada — not knowing that the journey would mark the beginning of one of the British Virgin Islands’ most enduring tourism stories.
They went north aboard a 25-foot Bertram, The Dayang, accompanied by a 40-foot houseboat and an outrigger canoe.
They were not simply moving to an island.
They were taking a chance on a dream.
And half a century later, the Anegada Reef Hotel is still standing.
Still welcoming guests.
Still serving lobster.
Still drawing sailors across the water.
And still very much a family affair.
A gamble on Anegada
The hotel had originally been built by Kenneth Bates in 1970. By the time Lowell and Vivian became interested in the property, it had been abandoned and was in need of new life.
In 1975, the couple applied to the Government for permission to take over the property. They eventually signed a lease and took on the daunting task of bringing the hotel back to life.
It was hardly an obvious business opportunity.
Anegada was remote. There was limited infrastructure. Tourism was nowhere near the industry it would become.
But Lowell and Vivian saw something others did not.
They saw Anegada.
They saw its beaches, its waters, its fishing, its lobster, its extraordinary landscape — and perhaps most importantly, they saw the people who would eventually come looking for exactly what Anegada had to offer.
Today, the hotel describes itself as a 20-room beachfront property at Setting Point, operated by Lowell and Vivian’s children, Lawrence and Lorraine Wheatley. The BVI Tourist Board likewise identifies the hotel as having opened in 1976 and being operated by the second generation.
But back then, none of that was guaranteed.
Then came the sailors
The timing, as the Wheatley family tells it, was just right.
The charter-yacht industry was still relatively small, but it was growing.
And those boats became the bridge between Tortola and Anegada.
Captains began bringing their guests north, and suddenly there was a reason for people to make the journey.
Capt. Lucien Pickering is remembered as the first to bring guests to the hotel in December 1976.
And when those visitors arrived, they found something that would become synonymous with Anegada: lobster cooked over a wood fire and served by the sea.
Lowell reportedly fashioned grills from old oil drums. He knew where to find the island’s “torch wood,” perfect for building a hot wood fire.
The lobsters were kept alive in the ocean until they were needed.
The result was simple.
Fresh lobster.
Wood smoke.
Salt air.
Sand beneath your feet.
And the Caribbean Sea just beyond the table.
It was not luxury in the traditional sense.
It was something better suited to Anegada: authentic island hospitality.
That tradition became a signature of the Anegada Reef Hotel and helped establish the island as a destination for visiting yachtsmen and seafood lovers.
The hotel is still known for its lobster and seafood, and its own description of the restaurant continues to centre fresh lobster, seafood and locally inspired dining.
A hotel became part of Anegada’s story
Over the decades, the Anegada Reef Hotel became much more than a place to sleep.
It became a meeting place.
A stopping point.
A gathering place for sailors.
A place where visitors could come ashore, eat, drink, tell stories and experience Anegada.
Travel writers have described it as a landmark and a longstanding favourite among sailors, while the hotel has remained closely connected to the boating community that helped sustain it in those early years.
There is perhaps no better evidence of that relationship than the hotel’s enduring connection with the Royal BVI Yacht Club.
The annual Lowell Wheatley Anegada Pursuit Race now bears the founder’s name. Boats leave Road Harbour and race north toward Anegada, with the festivities and prize-giving centred around the Anegada Reef Hotel. The event has become a fixture on the BVI sailing calendar.
In other words, the sailors who helped put Anegada Reef Hotel on the map helped create a legacy that is still sailing toward Anegada today.
More than a business — a family legacy
The story took a heartbreaking turn in July 2002 when Lowell died following a tragic explosion while making a new barbecue for the restaurant.
But the business he and Vivian had built did not end with him.
Their children, Lawrence and Lorraine, stepped forward.
Lawrence had been away at college when his father died and returned home to help carry the business forward. Lorraine eventually returned to Anegada after pursuing studies in hospitality and later human resources.
Lorraine has spoken publicly about the hotel being “in my blood,” and her professional training in hospitality and food and beverage prepared her to help continue the family enterprise.
Today, Lawrence and Lorraine operate the business their parents began.
And the story is still evolving.
In 2026, Lorraine was recognised as Sister Islander of the Quarter, in recognition of her contributions to business, community development and resilience. She also serves as President of the Anegada Resilience Team and as a board member of the BVI Tourist Board.
That is an important part of this anniversary.
The Anegada Reef Hotel is not simply celebrating 50 years of a building.
It is celebrating 50 years of family.
And then there is Vivian
There is something particularly beautiful about the fact that Vivian is still part of the story.
There are businesses that survive because of investment.
Businesses that survive because of marketing.
Businesses that survive because they happen to be in the right place at the right time.
And then there are businesses that survive because people pour themselves into them.
The Anegada Reef Hotel feels like the latter.
Even some of the little things have become part of its folklore.
The hotel’s famous Rum Smoothie, for example, reportedly came about in the early days when Anegada did not have electricity. Vivian found a way to create a signature drink without the convenience of a blender — another example of turning limitation into invention.
That spirit seems to run through the entire story.
There wasn’t enough.
So they improvised.
There wasn’t a developed tourism market.
So they created one.
People said tourists wouldn’t come.
So they gave tourists a reason to come.
Anegada itself has changed
The Anegada of 1976 is not the Anegada of 2026.
The island now welcomes visitors who come by boat, ferry and air. There are more places to stay, more restaurants and more tourism experiences.
Yet Anegada remains different.
It is still low-lying and remarkably open. It is still surrounded by the waters and reefs that have defined its history. And Horseshoe Reef — one of the Caribbean’s great coral reef systems — remains central to the island’s identity and appeal.
The Anegada Reef Hotel has changed with the times too.
The original little hotel has grown into a 20-room property, with updated accommodations while retaining its beachfront setting and relaxed island character.
But some things have deliberately remained the same.
The sea.
The beach.
The hospitality.
The lobster.
And the sense that when you arrive, you are arriving somewhere special.
Fifty years of saying “yes” when others said “no”
There is perhaps a larger lesson in the story of the Anegada Reef Hotel.
Sometimes the people who change a place are not the people with the biggest plans.
They are the people willing to take the first step.
Lowell and Vivian took that step when Anegada was not an obvious tourism destination.
They took an abandoned property and gave it life.
They took a lobster and a wood fire and created an experience.
They welcomed sailors, visitors, friends and eventually generations of returning guests.
And those guests became friends.
That, perhaps, is one of the greatest measures of success.
Not simply how many people came through the door.
But how many came back.
How many remembered.
How many told others.
How many eventually felt that Anegada Reef Hotel was part of their own BVI story.
The Wheatley family has expressed its gratitude to the customers who have returned year after year, to friends in Anegada, to staff — past and present — and to supporters from Tortola, St. Thomas and Puerto Rico who helped keep the operation supplied and thriving.
And special recognition belongs to the sailing community, including the BVI Yacht Club, whose races to Anegada helped introduce countless people to the island and the hotel.
Fifty years later…
On September 26, 1976, Lowell and Vivian sailed north with a boat, a houseboat, an outrigger canoe and a dream.
Fifty years later, their children are still carrying that dream.
The little hotel that people once thought was a mistake became one of Anegada’s enduring landmarks.
The place where visitors were told there was “nothing” for tourists became a destination.
The lobster dinners became legendary.
The sailors kept coming.
The guests became friends.
And the family kept going.
That is more than a business success story.
It is a BVI story.
A story about believing in a place before everyone else could see its potential.
A story about family.
A story about resilience.
And a story about what can happen when someone hears, “It won’t work,” and decides to try anyway.
Happy 50th Anniversary to Anegada Reef Hotel — and to Vivian, Lawrence, Lorraine, the Wheatley family, and every member of the team, past and present, who helped make the story what it is today.
May the fires keep burning, the lobsters keep grilling, the boats keep sailing north, and the welcome at Setting Point continue for another 50 years.
From one generation to the next — may the legacy continue.